Southampton 1-2 Cardiff: Late drama sees Zohore score injury time winner

For Cardiff City to secure their first consecutive top-flight wins since April 1962, after the two weeks they and their manager have endured, is nothing short of extraordinary.

The news that Emiliano Sala’s body had been recovered from the wreckage of the plane which crashed into the English Channel was broken to Neil Warnock by telephone in midweek.

To then come to Southampton and take three points off a side that were unbeaten in the Premier League in 2019 highlighted the professionalism of Warnock and his players.

Cardiff took the lead through Sol Bamba in the second half before Jack Stephens looked to have salvaged a draw for Southampton in the first minute of stoppage time.

Not quite, as a shot from substitute Kenneth Zohore then crept into the bottom corner in the 93rd minute. Warnock went wild, as did the players on the pitch and the staff on the bench.

‘The Blues are staying up, and now you’re gonna believe us,’ sang the travelling supporters. Indeed, this win lifted them out of the Premier League’s bottom three.

There were an abundance of tributes to Sala at St Mary’s Stadium, including a wonderfully-observed minute’s silence and thousands of daffodils worn on the lapels of supporters’ coats.

Like Cardiff, Southampton had a job to do themselves here. They too are in a fight for survival.

When Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived in December, he confessed he did not like his nickname ‘Alpen Kloppen’, or ‘Klopp from the Alps’ to you and I.

Like the Liverpool manager, Hasenhuttl had a reputation for making his players run, run and then run some more. It led to questions over whether his pressing style of play would work.

Would this group of players, who seemed to be sleepwalking towards relegation under Hasenhuttl’s predecessor Mark Hughes, have the legs to produce his brand of football?

Hasenhuttl’s first game in charge of Southampton was away at Cardiff and they suffered a 1-0 loss, leaving them second bottom. They went into this sitting 16th and unbeaten in 2019.

The closest the home side came inside the opening half hour to scoring was through Cardiff’s Bamba, after Ryan Bertrand’s cross caused confusion in the area. Bamba avoided the indignity of an own goal as the ball bounced wide of Neil Etheridge’s post.

There were 38 minutes on the clock when the first shot on target of the match was hit. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had a go from 20 yards but it was a routine save for Etheridge.

The odd ironic cheer could be heard inside St Mary’s. Southampton had enjoyed the lion’s share of possession – 67 per cent to Cardiff’s 33 in the first half – but there was little end product.

The visitors had defended doggedly before the break, but offered nothing up front. At the start of the second half, it was more of the same.

Southampton controlled the ball while Cardiff chased after it, and Yan Valery tested Etheridge’s catching skills with a fierce shot.

Then, with their first shot on target of the entire game, Cardiff took the lead. A corner was swung in, Callum Paterson headed for goal and Bamba applied the final touch.

Immediately, he sprinted into the stand housing away supporters. It was worth the yellow card.

Southampton thought they had made it 1-1 moments later, only for heroic defending from Lee Peltier to deny them. Valery was through but he saw his shot saved by Etheridge.

Charlie Austin then had all of the goal to find but Peltier cleared off the line. Mohamed Elyounoussi then had a go but, again, Peltier was there to block.

The fourth official’s board showed five minutes of stoppage time, and Cardiff were clinging on. Southampton had a corner. It was swung in, the ball crept through the six-yard box and Stephens was waiting at the back post, there to tap it in.

It looked like it would finish 1-1, yet there remained a final sting in the tail. Harry Arter shanked a shot before Victor Camarasa fed Zohore, who found the bottom corner.

Cardiff’s supporters left St Mary’s singing the same song they had been singing all afternoon, about the striker they never got to see wear a blue shirt. The players did their part, paying tribute to Sala with this win.